Alexander-Arnold Equalizer Cancels Historic Haaland Goal In Early PL Kick-Off

A thumping effort from Trent Alexander-Arnold to put the ball past Ederson into Manchester City's goal on the 80-minute mark saw Liverpool eke out a draw in the early Premier League kick-off at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

The Liverpool vice-captain latched onto a Mohammed Salah pass and had a go at Ederson's goal to bring parity in the match that saw City lead for large swathes.

Pep Guardiola's men controlled the game, as expected, recording 61 per cent possession and 594 passes to Liverpool's 396. The Reds, for their part, looked out of ideas as they had to soak in the pressure for large parts of the game.

Alisson, who has been above the rest in this Liverpool side that is on the back of tumultuous season, had a start to forget as he looked shaky and gave the ball away on several occasions. It was his miscue from a goal kick that set up the goal for City, albeit helped by some poor defending from Liverpool.

Alisson improved in the second half and had a huge say in how things ended when he stopped from point-blank range to deny Haaland a second goal on the night and ensure parity remained after Trent Alexander-Arnold's goal.

Apart from that, the match, being billed as a blockbuster, did not have much to offer. For Manchester City, Jeremy Doku was a lively source of balls into the box, as Mohammed Salah failed to make his mark until late for Liverpool and Darwin Nunez could not translate his brilliant international form into goals on the big occasion.

Earlier in the match, City's goalscoring juggernaut Erling Haaland scored in the 27th minute when he put the ball past Alisson after putting his laces through the ball from a pass from Nathan Ake. Haaland's goal, his 50th in the Premier League, saw him become the quickest ever to reach the mark.

It was another drub outing for the Reds, who have been playing well below the levels they should in the starting few weeks of the new season. Stating on second before kick-off behind only City, their positions remain unchanged.

However, Arsenal, who play later tonight, have the chance to climb to top of the table with a win. A win for Liverpool would have saw them pip their rivals to reclaim the top spot they last held in May, 2022.

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